Tag: Presidential Election of 2020

What’s a Little Hyperbole Among Friends?

Gail Collins: So Bret, Donald Trump gets a roughly $355 million fine for fibbing about his fortune. Too much? Too little? Am I wrong for starting to chortle? Bret Stephens: Gail, I would never want to stop you from chortling, but here goes: I think the case was ridiculous and the verdict outrageous. And dumb. […]

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At Rally in Michigan, Trump Lashes Out at Judge Who Fined Him $355 Million

Former President Donald J. Trump vented about his latest legal defeat to freezing supporters at a Michigan rally on Saturday night, a day after a New York judge fined him nearly $355 million plus interest in his civil fraud case. The Republican front-runner for his party’s presidential nomination, Mr. Trump denied that he had conspired […]

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Messy Diversion in Georgia Trump Case Creates Perception Problem

At some point in the coming weeks or months, the Georgia criminal case against former President Donald J. Trump and his allies will presumably focus once again on the defendants and whether they conspired to overturn Mr. Trump’s election loss there in 2020. But the extraordinary detour that the case has taken, plunging into the […]

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After Testimony in Atlanta, Willis Receives Both Praise and Condemnation

It has been a rare point of consensus about the case brought by Georgia prosecutors against former President Donald J. Trump: the Fulton County district attorney, Fani T. Willis, probably made a mistake by having a romantic relationship with a co-worker. But the agreement ends there. As people in Atlanta and its suburbs digested gripping […]

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If You Know How to Read It, Washington Is an Open Book

President Biden had a far better comeback at his disposal last week when he took offense at a special counsel report that suggested he didn’t remember which year his son Beau died. He’d already delivered that alternative response in “Promise Me, Dad,” the memoir he published in 2017 about his son’s illness and death. “This […]

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With Everything on the Line, Fani Willis Delivered Raw Testimony

Fani T. Willis walked unaccompanied through the front door of a Fulton County courtroom on Thursday afternoon in a bright magenta dress and announced she was ready to testify. She was interrupting her lawyer, who at that very moment was trying to convince a judge that she should not have to testify at all. “I’m […]

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What Happens if Fani Willis Is Disqualified From the Trump Case?

The stakes will be high on Thursday when a judge in Atlanta seeks to determine whether the Fulton County district attorney, Fani T. Willis, should be disqualified from leading the prosecution of former President Donald J. Trump on election interference charges. If Judge Scott McAfee determines that Ms. Willis has a conflict of interest because […]

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Pivotal Hearing Could Stall Georgia Case Against Trump

The three-year long Georgia investigation of Donald J. Trump and his allies for election interference faces its biggest hurdle at a hearing on Thursday, when a judge begins to assess whether the lead prosecutor and her office should be disqualified from the case. The hearing will delve into a romantic relationship between the two main […]

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Jack Smith Asks Supreme Court to Move Quickly in Trump Immunity Case

Jack Smith, the special counsel prosecuting former President Donald J. Trump on charges of plotting to overturn the 2020 election, urged the Supreme Court on Wednesday to reject a request from Mr. Trump to put the case on hold while he pursues appeals. “Delay in the resolution of these charges threatens to frustrate the public […]

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Pete Hoekstra is the rightful chair of the Michigan Republican Party, RNC says

After a bitter monthlong fight in Michigan over who has a valid claim to lead the G.O.P. in the critical battleground state, the Republican National Committee said on Wednesday that it had formally recognized Pete Hoekstra as the state party’s rightful chairman. The decision follows a vote on Jan. 6 by some party officials in […]

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Why the Case Against Fani Willis Feels Familiar to Black Women

Tangala L. Hollis-Palmer felt asense of pride when she learned that Fani T. Willis, the district attorney of Fulton County, Ga., and one of the nation’s few elected Black female prosecutors, would lead the election interference case against former President Donald J. Trump. But that pride would be tempered by dismay as news emerged of […]

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Georgia Judge Will Hear Evidence on Relationship Between Trump Prosecutors

An Atlanta judge said on Monday that he would go forward with a hearing later this week delving into a romantic relationship between the two prosecutors leading an election interference case against former President Donald J. Trump and a number of his allies. The revelations about the relationship, and accusations by defense lawyers that it […]

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Trump Faces Supreme Court Deadline on Claim of Absolute Immunity

Former President Donald J. Trump is expected to file a last-ditch effort on Monday in the Supreme Court to press his claim of total immunity from criminal prosecution. When a federal appeals court last week rejected the claim, it temporarily paused its ruling, saying it would return the case to the trial court on Monday, […]

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Trump’s Carter Problems vs. Biden’s Reagan Possibilities

The low approval rating and various political headwinds for President Biden have invited comparisons with another first-term Democratic president, Jimmy Carter, and the challenges he faced running for re-election in 1980. Many Republicans are thinking about his defeat at the hands of Ronald Reagan, bullish that Donald Trump also has what it takes to oust […]

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Can America Survive a Party of Saboteurs?

Almost four years have passed since Congress approved and Donald Trump signed a huge relief bill designed to limit the financial hardship created by the Covid-19 pandemic. The CARES Act did its job. Although around 25 million Americans temporarily lost their jobs — with the job losses mainly caused by fear of infection rather than […]

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Supreme Court Seems Likely to Reject Challenge to Trump’s Eligibility for Ballot

The Supreme Court seemed poised on Thursday to issue a lopsided decision rejecting a challenge to former President Donald J. Trump’s eligibility to hold office again. Justices across the ideological spectrum expressed skepticism about several aspects of a ruling from the Colorado Supreme Court that Mr. Trump’s conduct in trying to subvert the 2020 race […]

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The Immunity Ruling Is a Blow to Trump’s Monarchy

Feb. 1, 2024, 3:00 p.m. ET Feb. 1, 2024, 3:00 p.m. ET Credit…Jason Mcdonald/Netflix, via Associated Press Oscar Bait is The Point’s series of conversations about films nominated for the Academy Award for best picture. Today, Christopher Orr, an editor in Opinion who was once a film critic, discusses “Maestro” with Vanessa Mobley, OpEd Editor. […]

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Federal Appeals Court Rejects Trump’s Claim of Absolute Immunity

A federal appeals court on Tuesday rejected former President Donald J. Trump’s claim that he was immune to charges of plotting to subvert the results of the 2020 election, ruling that he must go to trial on a criminal indictment accusing him of seeking to overturn his loss to President Biden. The unanimous ruling by […]

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Biden vs. Trump (Taylor’s Version)

Gail Collins: So, Bret — more than 350,000 new jobs in January without an inflation surge! Great news, huh? I guess that means the Biden plan is really working out, hehehehe. Bret Stephens: Just two problems. First, prices for groceries are still too damn high — up 25 percent in the last four years, according […]

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Fani Willis Admits Relationship With Colleague Nathan Wade in Trump Georgia Case

Fani T. Willis, the district attorney prosecuting the Georgia election interference case against former President Donald J. Trump, acknowledged on Friday a “personal relationship” with a prosecutor she hired to manage the case but argued that it was not a reason to disqualify her or her office from it. The admission came almost a month […]

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Trump’s Tariffs Hurt U.S. Jobs but Swayed American Voters, Study Says

The sweeping tariffs that former President Donald J. Trump imposed on China and other American trading partners were simultaneously a political success and an economic failure, a new study suggests. That’s because the levies won over voters for the Republican Party even though they did not bring back jobs. The nonpartisan working paper examines monthly […]

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Queens Man Who Pushed Officer Over Ledge on Jan. 6 Sentenced to 6 Years

A Queens man who tackled a police officer and pushed him over a ledge during the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was sentenced this week to six and a half years in prison, court records show. The man, Ralph Joseph Celentano III, 56, of Broad Channel, was sentenced on Tuesday, according […]

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Prosecutor on Trump Georgia Case Settles Divorce, Avoiding Testimony

The special prosecutor leading the election interference case against former President Donald J. Trump will not have to testify this week about an alleged romantic relationship with his boss, Fani T. Willis, the Fulton County district attorney, after reaching a divorce settlement on Tuesday. The resolution of the divorce between the special prosecutor, Nathan J. […]

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How the Border Crisis Shattered Biden’s Immigration Hopes

On President Biden’s first day in office, he paused nearly all deportations. He vowed to end the harsh practices of the Trump administration, show compassion toward those wishing to come to the United States and secure the southern border. For Mr. Biden, it was a matter of principle. He wanted to show the world that […]

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Nikki Haley Can Do a Lot of Damage

Bret Stephens: Hi, Gail. It’s fair to say that Nikki Haley has next-to-no chance of beating Donald Trump for the Republican nomination. Give her your best advice: Give up now? Fight a guerrilla campaign right up to the G.O.P. convention? Or join forces with someone like Joe Manchin in a third party? Gail Collins: Third […]

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Illinois Hearing Officer, a Former Republican Judge, Says Trump Engaged in Insurrection

A former Republican judge appointed to hear arguments on whether to disqualify former President Donald J. Trump from the Illinois primary ballot said on Sunday that he believed Mr. Trump engaged in insurrection by attempting to remain in office after the 2020 election. But the former judge, Clark Erickson, whose nonbinding opinion will be considered […]

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Navarro Is Sentenced to 4 Months in Prison for Stonewalling Congress in Jan. 6 Inquiry

Peter Navarro, a trade adviser to former President Donald J. Trump who helped lay plans to keep Mr. Trump in office after the 2020 election, was sentenced on Thursday to four months in prison for defying a subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. Mr. Navarro, 74, was […]

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We Are Normalizing Trump. Again.

Over the past nine years, Donald Trump has been variously described as narcissistic, mendacious, authoritarian, unbalanced, ignorant, incompetent, egotistical and racist — as someone who demonizes minorities and fans ethnic hostility. These assessments are a major reason roughly half of American voters, according to polls, say they will not vote for him. But even as […]

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Why Americans Are Feeling Better About the Economy

In 2022, Republicans seemed to have an easy path to regaining the White House, no actual policy proposals required. All they had to do was contrast Donald Trump’s economic record — which they portrayed as stellar — with the lousy economy under President Biden. That rosy view of the Trump economy involved a lot of […]

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Judge Unseals Records in Divorce Case That Has Entangled Trump Prosecutors

A Georgia judge unsealed a divorce case on Monday that has entangled the Atlanta district attorney prosecuting former President Donald J. Trump, but halted plans to force the testimony of the prosecutor, Fani T. Willis. One of the parties to the divorce, Nathan Wade, is the lawyer whom Ms. Willis hired to manage the election […]

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The Trump Train Is Getting Very Crowded

Gail Collins: Bret, I have a feeling this is the last time I’m going to ask you about the Republican presidential primaries. Things seem to be winding up fast. Ron DeSantis is out — don’t think we’re gonna miss him. Bret Stephens: Nope. Gail: If DeSantis weren’t such an awful candidate, this toppling of his […]

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